Mind Games
by MorgansGurl
Summary: Hermione and Remus are trapped in a wicked game of sorts. A fight for survival is needed, along with cunning wit and sharp intellect. Someone is really sick in the mind and is toying with our beloved characters for kicks and giggles. HG/RL. Rated M.
1. Chapter 1

_Posted: June-8-2008_

_Disclaimer: I own not the world of Harry Potter. Shame really._

**Mind Games: It Begins **

By: Morgansgurl

* * *

It was dark, but that surly could have been due to the fact that Hermione had her eyes closed. But no, she had a sneaky feeling that the room she was in was dark despite her closed lids.

She rolled her body over and moaned as she felt the aches and pains course through her like a fish out of water. She had a dull headache and she knew that if she tried to get up now that she would have hell to pay.

As she lay on the cool concrete floor, her breathing labored, she realized two very important things. One, this wasn't her room and two; she couldn't remember what happened as she was on her way home. She knew that both of those realizations put together would equal one very bad situation to be in. She really didn't understand it though, she had been walking home on a bright sunny day, there were people all around, and she was in muggle London. It just didn't add up to a Death Eater capture.

Then again, you should never underestimate Death Eaters or Lord Voldemort.

She took a deep breath and propped herself up on her elbows, daring to open her eyes. It took her a few moments before she could blink away the pain of adjusting to the light of the room, though it wasn't very much light.

She noticed that she must be in a cellar or dungeon of some sorts. There were four walls all made of large concrete blocks painted grey, on the back wall in the upper right hand corner was a very small, thin window with four large wrought iron bars that let in a meager amount of light and a despicable amount of fresh air. Directly in front of her was a large heavy looking steal door.

"Oh, this is so not good." Hermione mumbled to herself, slowly pushing herself into a higher sitting from her position in the center of the room. Looking down at herself she observed that she was only in a white muggle t-shirt, and a pair of ripped jeans. The rips were not intentional or there before so she assumed that they attained the rips through her transportation from London to this cell. That in itself was odd.

Her shirt was stained with moldy water and mud, her hair was surly a tangled mess if what running her hand through it had yeilded any indication. She did happen to have her pair of converse on, thankfully they still looked in decent shape. When she did a quick body check she realized she didn't have her wand, and she didn't have any bodily injuries.

She also did a guesstimation, if she were with Death Eaters they surley would have come in by now. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath; her senses were assaulted with the pungent smell of wet rock and mold. The room was rather cold and dank, a chocking humidity developing around her body heat.

When she finally gathered the strength to stand, she had to bend over and clutch her head in her hands as she waited for the dizziness and throbbing pain to subside. She felt as if she had been dumped into this room on her head. The annoying dropping of water from the ceiling to the puddle in the corner was driving her insane and throwing off her focus. Taking a few unsteady and staggering steps towards the door, she figured that she should at least try the obvious escape routs first.

She had a plan, first she would try and push the door open, possibly pull at some of the bolts. Then she would move to the tiny window that she had no hope of ever squeezing through, but she could probably pull a rod out and have some sort of weapon. Next she would work at chipping away the sopping rocks in the corner, other then that she really didn't have a option except wait for her captures to show.

As she leaned her weight against the steal door and dug her heals into the ground below her feet, she gave a heavy shove and found herself sprawled out on the floor. At first she was confused, when she looked over her shoulder from the ground she realized that the door was wide open and that she was sprawled on the ground in the next room.

She wasn't in the cell anymore.

It really shouldn't have been that easy, and as she passed her gaze in front of her body she realized that it wasn't. This new room looked exactly like the other room she had been in. The only difference being that there appeared to be a adjourning door that led to a bathroom and a small cot in the corner. A small cot that happened to have a prone body laying upon it.

From her position lying on the floor she couldn't tell who it was, and it didn't help that the blanket was covering thier entire being. It could have been anyone, it could very well be her capture sleeping. It could be a complete stranger that just happened to be in the same unpleasant situation. It could be a friend she knew.

At the last thought Hermione scrambled to her feet and rushed over to the cot, dropping to her knees beside the cloth covered body. She desperately hoped that the body in front of her was not dead. Her fears were subsided when she heard a strangled cough come from underneath the garments, but they were also renewed when she understood that she still didn't know who this person was.

Deciding that quick action was the best plan, she gripped the dirty cotton sheet with trembling fingers and flung it off as fast as she could before her mind could rationalize what she was doing. She drew in a sharp gasp.

Lying before her was an older looking man, in either his late thirties or early forties. His head was full with shabby sandy-brown hair. He adorned a five o' clock shadow on his features. His shirt was a tight black tee that hugged his muscular arms and torso, and she could see the slightest hint of jeans from underneath the blankets hem.

"Remus!" Hermione prodded urgently but in hushed tones. When his body refused to respond she placed her hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly, again hissing "Remus!" When he didn't respond she considered slapping him across the head, but decided against it, instead opting for standing and shaking him from atop, both her small hands on either shoulder. "Remus!" she yelled this time.

When he bolted up from the bed she was sent sprawling to the ground yet again. His panting was rapid and deep. His eyes appeared wild as they darted around the room in a panicked survey before resting on her. She could tell it took him more then a moment to register who she was.

"Hermione?" he whispered, his voice raw. He looked confused as he stared at his lap then back up to Hermione as she made to stand.

"Yeah," she answered softly "do you know where we are?" She asked with the slightest hope that maybe, just maybe he would be able to explain some of this to her. He shook his head in the negative as he swung his legs over the side of the cot and rested his elbows on them.

"I honestly couldn't tell you," he ran a hand through his already mused hair. "Would you?" he knew the only answer he would receive would be negative as well, but it was worth a shot to cover all the bases.

"No, I-I just found you, I was locked..." She paused her face scrunching into a frown "I thought I was locked in that cell over there, but I guess I was wrong. Anyway, I found you in here, and there appears to be a bathroom over there." She gestured to the ajar door. "And that appears to be a door that might lead out of here, but you never know." She trailed off, explaining as much as she knew.

Remus stood up and slowly made his way over to the door that Hermione had pushed open, inspecting it from every angle. "Open this when I close it." He instructed as he stepped inside her old cell and closed the door shut behind him was a heavy clink of metal.

Hermione confused by his actions, still obeyed his wishes and attempted to open the door in any way possible. She pulled on the handle, scratched at the seams, pushed with all her might. She even stooped as low as to kick the steal door earning her a pain filled toe accompanied by a yelp. Finally she sagged her shoulders and called out to Remus.

"I can't." she responded. Then the door pushed open easily with a single finger as Remus appeared from the other side. A contemplative look on his features.

"It appears that it can only be opened from the side you were on." He stated, before he walked over and grabbed the sheet that had covered him earlier, ripping it down the middle. He placed the two pieces back on the bed and picked up the pillow, or excuse for a pillow and did the same to it. Next he stalked into the bathroom and came out with a metal bar, Hermione assumed it had held a towel.

"What are you doing?" she asked quizzically.

"Making sure this door doesn't close unless one of us is behind it." He stated simply as he mounted the bar in between the door and the wall, making sure it wouldn't move. "Also making sure that we both have a pillow and blanket to keep warm…at least somewhat." His voice was contemplatvie and bitter sounding. Hermione cocked her head to the side in a contemplative manner as she watched him stalk about the cell, going into the bathroom and coming out with something new, or taking something in there.

"I'll sleep in the tub, you can have the cot." Remus stated simply as he motioned to the cot with a lazy hand. He gathered up his part of the ripped pillow and blanket and headed into the bathroom, placing his sleeping gear on the counter. "I suggest we take a shower first though," he looked down on his dirtied and bruised frame. "You get in and I'll just sit on the toilet as you shower, in case anyone comes in I will at least have a chance to protect you." His statement left no room for argument and she moved passed him into the bathroom, her steps still slightly unstable.

The tile was rust colored and the walls were cracked with mold seeping out in the form of dripping lines. It was all rather disgusting, but she stepped into the shower fully clothed, closing the curtain and undressed without the slightest complaint.

"This is awkward you know," she stated nervously, passing her clothes to him from a slit she made in the curtain. He didn't reply and she turned on the hot water, revealing in the rippling sensation the water made as it came into contact with her soar skin. She picked up a old looking bar of soap and washed herself, intentionally avoiding private places, who knew what was on that soap.

She ran her hands through her hair in an attempt to clean it, thankful that she had had a shower the morning she was captured. But there was no telling how long she had been passed out. When she finished a hand snaked out from behind the curtain holding a scrungy old towel. She accepted it with a cringe. She really didn't want to wash herself with that filth, but she didn't have much of a choice, and she couldn't excatly stay in the tub and air dry considering the humidity of the room. And she wouldn't dare step out of the tub and air dry her body.

Then a rather large black shirt and her undies were passed to her. Thankful that she had had black boyshort-ish underwear on that day instead of her usual thong.

"Ummm, Remus?" she questioned, she was pretty sure this was his shirt and not hers.

"I washed your clothes in the sink while you were in the shower," he replied "Just wear my shirt and your underwear until your cloths dry, I can go without a shirt and I'm sure it's large enough to cover you properly." He mentioned his tone more caring this time.

When he didn't hear her moving to put on the garments he sighed. "I promise not to look at you Hermione, or have anything happen to you. It shouldn't take long to have your clothes dry, there handing on the door leading to the other room," Remus noticed that he avoided saying 'her cell' "besides I have to shower and heal myself."

Hermione sighed herself and made to put on the clothes offered to her, he was right the shirt was really rather large on her, but barily long enough to cover her bottom. She felt rather exposed as she stepped out of the shower. She figured that was shy Remus had handed her her black boy short undies.

Keeping to his word and not looking at her, he stepped into the shower, throwing his pants and boxers over the shower curtain. Hermione picked them up and folded them. She decided that for her safety she should stay in the bathroom until he was done, he had stayed with her anyway she could at least return the favor, though she doubted that she would be much protection if anyone dared to challenge her. She didn't want to get caught in any of the other rooms dressed as she was without adequate protection either. Remus may be very wet and very naked at the moment, but he was better protection then nothing, or the pillow.

When he finally finished his shower, she passed him the same towl she had used. Though it was a bit damp it was the only towl in the bathroom. Upon survey Hermione had noticed that there was a old half-used bottle of toothpast without a cap, but no toothbrush. She also saw a scrungy broken hair brush lying in one of the drawers, a sliver of mirror seeing as the medicin cabinet ubove the sink was missing it's mirror. She succedded in finding a empty carton of floss, and a sticky tube of glitter lip gloss that looked decades old. At least there were three rolls of toilet paper sitting ontop of the cracked toilet tank, but one of them was browning with dust buildup.

As he stepped out of the shower Hermione averted her eyes from his naked torso. Remus bent over and towl dryied his hair quickly making it stand up spiked in a shabby mess. Hermione let out a small smile at the image, she also noticed that his torso was covered in black and blue bruises, but she decided it best not to ask to many questions.

"Hermione," Remus asked in a very serious tone as he turned to look at her, "How old are you?" Remus eyed her curiously, Hermione noticed that this question seemed to hold a deeper meaning for him then just a conversational question.

"Seventeen, why, is it important?" She asked, feeling somewhat frightened.

"You can't use magic outside of Hogwarts then, If you managed any magic the ministry would be able to track it and possibly find us." He explained. His eyes contemplative and he thought of ways out of thier situation or obtaining help.

"I don't have a wand though." Hermione replied in a quiet tone, her hopes dejected. Remus nodded and headed out into the main room, Hermione following closely behind. "And I don't know any wandless magic, I mean I am the smartest witch of my age but I have limitations, the closest thing I have is an animagus, which the ministry doesn't track, but you would already know that." She shrugged as she took a seat on the small cot.

"An Animagus at your age?" Remus asked slightly suprised.

"Don't act all suprised, Sirius and James had a animagus at the age of fifteen, give me my due." Hermione scoffed at the inadvertant insult.

"I didn't-I'm sorry." Remus appologized. "What is it?" he asked curious.

"I'm a brownish Squirrel, with what Ron calls an extra bushy tail. It really isn't that useful in retrospect, but it's what I am." Hermione supplied, a twinkle in her eye. Remus just nodded his head in yet more contemplation.

* * *

Hermione was sitting on the cot, her legs crossed and the lotty old blanket covering her entire lower half. She had twisted her hair into a very sloppy bun with a hair tie she had found in the bathroom that had old hair rapped around it. She tried not to think on that fact, it was rather disturbing.

Remus was pacing the floor, shirtless and barefoot. He was constantly running a hand through his half-dry hair and occasionally would stop and look at her before returning to his pacing.

"You're taking this all rather smoothly," Hermione said finally. She was tired of sitting in this room in silence. He had been pacing for the last half hour without the smallest of words.

"Hardly." He scoffed as he continued pacing.

"Well you appeared rather level headed earlier." Hermione stated simply, adjusting her sitting position.

"This is not normal Hermione," He stopped and looked at her this time, straight in the eyes. "They should have come in to check on us by now, it's nearly nightfall." He emphasized his point by pointing angrily at the small window in the other room. He was correct, it had been daylight for awhile now, so she could assume that she awoke in the morning, but they didn't have a clock to go by so she couldn't be sure.

"I'd rather hope they don't come." Hermione said mostly to herself.

"If they don't come we don't eat." Was his response, and her eyes went wide at the realization. "We can live approximately four to eight weeks without food seeing as we have water." He let the sentence hang.

Then another thought hit her as she saw dusk approaching through the window faster and faster. "Remus," she asked tentatively, not sure if it was proper to use his first name "what about your…your lycanthropy?" Hermione was afraid of the answer she would receive.

"I turned last night, I'm sure of it, so at least we have a date to work with. We need to keep a close tab on the cycle of the sun though to stay correct. " Was his simple response. "I assume that was why you were placed in the other room where the door only opens on one side. That tells me that they at least want you alive. And I was healed and in a cot this morning which means they also want me alive and well." Hermione let out a sigh of relief at the news. That meant she had thirty days approximately before they had to worry about his furry-little problem again.

Remus did a sharp turn to his right and sighed in anger yet again. "We can't apparate out." He sounded almost defeated.

"Well it was worth a try." Hermione agreed "You should have been in my mind when I formed my escape plan. Door, window, carving out the walls with my fingers…"she trailed off with a small grin. "I didn't even consider apparating." Remus looked at her for a few moments before a small grin broke out on his face. Then his face fell with exhaustion. Last nights turning accompanied by today's events had been rather taxing on him, and he was sure it had been taxing on Hermione as well. He knew he had to be strong though, he had to be strong enough for the both of them. He couldn't let Hermione know of the panic in his veins, of the fear in his heart, of the utter saddness and nerviousness fogging his mind. No, that wouldn't due. He had to be strong to survive this, so that they could make it out of this.

"I think it's time for bed." He let out a heavy breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Nothing we can do at the moment, already tried knocking the door down twice today." His hand reached up and rubbed the shoulder that he had used in his attempt to bust the door out. When he made to go into the bathroom Hermione stopped him.

"Sleep here," She begged urgently, scooting over to make room on the twin sized cot for him. "It's safer and much warmer." She argued. "Besides you've already nearly been in the shower with me, what's a nap in the cot next to me going to add to it?"

Remus raised an eyebrow in her direction before relinquishing and gathering his things and bringing them next to her. "I hardly see it as appropriate." He admonished, before placing his half of the pillow down next to hers, and spreading his half of the blanket out.

"I don't see our situation as appropriate, much less reasonable." She argued, "Besides, desperate times call for desperate measure and my pants aren't even dry yet, meaning I'm going to be very cold without you next to me. Body heat is the best heat after-all, and what if someone comes in while I'm asleep in here and your in there…" Her babbling was cut off as Remus plopped down next to her and threw a arm over his eyes.

"You win, I'll stay." He agreed before turning on his side and saying his goodnights.

"Maybe tomorrow will be a brighter day…" Hermione ventured tiredly as she rolled over onto her side as well. A trouble sleep fell over them both. Remus grunted in responce and fell asleep in a matter of moments.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Mind Games. This is not going to be a snuff film fic if anyone is wondering. That would be annoying; this is simply going to be someone wanting to have fun with some of our favorite characters. _

_It is rated M for future chapters, you have been warned. _

_Also I had a question to pose to the readers…Would you like this to be an interactive choose your destiny fic? Were I post something like…_

"_If you want Hermione to open the door go to chapter 3" Or "If Hermione does not open the door go to chapter 5" _

_If you think that would be fun just let me know in a review, or if you would rather me just keep this a normal simply fic let me know that to. And don't forget to review this first chapter along with your opinion. Also, this was mentioned in a review to me earlier, If I turned this fic interactive I would post two chapters at a time so that everyone has a chance to read ahead. There would only be two options per chapter not like three or four, so technically there would be only two directions this story could go in per chapter. I think it would be fun but I want to know what you think. _

_Note: I know Remus and Hermione seemed very casual about the entire situation, but he is trying to stay strong and not panic for Hermione…you will understand later what his true reaction might have been if Hermione had not been there later. And they are very scared, but I'm trying to avoid making this fic angsty and mary-su…Realistically both Hermione and Remus are level headed and intelligent individuals. They wouldn't pull a Ron Weasley and go all panic attack tears. They are going through a war after all. It wouldn't be becoming for them to break down simply because they were captured. Nothing truly bad has happened yet, they just found themselves in a unpleasent situation. _

_Also, If you happen to be curious my Hermione and Remus are Emma Watson and Ewan McGregor. I am not fond of David as the actor, I think he looks to…scrawny, old, and not enough hair with a silly mustache but remember this is just my opinion, you don't have to agree with it. _

_And, I made a banner for this fic. You can find it by visiting my proflie if you are interested. I really should get a LJ for this stuff huh lol. _

_Hmmmm, I am also in need of a dedicated beta. I do have requirements though, I would like someone 18 or over that has the time to be a fast and trustworthy beta. If your scedule looks like it might get super busy to where you can't beta long term or you already are betaing for someone please don't ask to beta for me. Also, I would like someone able to work through Microsoft Office Word 2003-2007, I do not like any other document program and I hate having my work sent back to me through and email if it is not in an attachment. It ruins all the spacing. I would also perfer a person where American English is their first language becuase it's mine. I would also enjoy if there were a person willing to inform me when they would be away from a computer for prolonged periods of time so I can find a temporary replacement, and also someone who will reply to my emails saying they recieved the chapter and by when they would be able to get it done, AND STICK to the given date. I would also like a beta with the ability to do the following:_

_Plot, Grammar,_ _Spelling, Vocabulary, Sentence Structure, Characterization, Punctuation._

_They also have to have no problem editing the following: Rape, OOC, AU, Strong Sexual Content, Bad Language, PWP, NC-17, M, R, MA, BDSM, Torture, underage sex, hatefic...etc. If you don't know what some of the above was, then don't apply. _

_Yes I am picky with my Beta's, to many bad experiences. So if you can't meet the above then please don't waste my time or yours. _

_**PLEASE: If you take the time to put this story on your story alert list, PLEASE take the time to review it. A simply 'Good Job' or 'Update Soon' would be fine, really. It's just dissapointing to see like 30 story alters and only 3 reviews in your email box. Take the three seconds to leave a review. You know if you leave a review you can select the other options below it so it saves time. Can you tell I love reviews.** _


	2. Chapter 2

_Posted: June-9-2008_

_Disclaimer: I still don't own anything Harry Potter. If I did it would be Remus Lupin, and if I did own him…do you really think I would be writing fanfiction? I thinkest not. _

**Mind Games: Awakening **

By: Morgansgurl

* * *

Hermione awoke tangled up in a series of limbs that she was almost sure did not belong to her. Remus had his head buried in Hermione's hair, the distinct yet faint smell of vanilla and cinnamon filtered into his dreams. As Hermione opened her eyes she saw a very prominent shoulder and shoulder blade blocking the rest of her vision.

Taking a moment she took in his smell. It was a sandal wood mixed wit a hint of rough spice, very manly yet soft to the senses. When Hermione made a move to stretch out her arms she felt the weight of an arm landing on her mid-section, pinning her to the bed. She let out a small grunt at the impact before she smiled.

Finding herself in this cramped yet serene setting she decided to take the time and closely examine the man lying next to her, and nearly on top of her. She noticed the many welts of scars criss-crossing his back, she could see the faint lines of stretch marks on his bicep and forearm. After he quick study she decided it was time to get up and start her day.

After finally disentangling herself from his unrelenting grip she tip-toed over to her dry jeans. As she slipped her legs into them she could feel the crisp rough stiffness that jeans only acquired from a long air dry. She also grabbed her black lace bra along with her somewhat newly cleaned shirt. Slowly she proceeded to the bathroom and slowly shut the door with a soft click of the lock. Disrobing from Remus's shirt she clipped her bra into place, gingerly sliding the straps up her arms minding the soreness present, and then pulled her shirt over her head.

She decided that she should at least attempt to comb her unmanageable hair with the broken brush she had found yesterday. Anything would be better then letting it stay in the mishap it was in. She fought for nearly twenty minutes with various knots and tangles, using her fingers and the brush until she felt that most of it was smoothed out enough to place into a loose bun, some wayward curls making their way into her face.

Exiting the bathroom she observed that Remus was still resting. She didn't want to disturb him; he had suffered from the curse the previous night and yesterday just seemed to wear him out more. He had fallen asleep rather quickly after all.

Glancing around the room for what must have been the hundredth time Hermione sighed. She just couldn't rationalize a way out of this mess, they were sitting ducks until their captors decided to show themselves. Without much to occupy herself with, and not feeling like going back to sleep Hermione did the only thing she could think of to pass the time, she sat on the ground and proceeded to do some crunches and sit-ups.

After she had exhausted her arm muscles she decided that some push-ups would be a good distraction, she made it to thirty before collapsing to the ground, knocking the air out of her lungs. After she rested for a bit she worked on squats, some lunges, a few high kicks and stretches. Then she moved on to jumping jacks and running in place.

"What are you doing?" Remus mumbled into his pillow.

"Exercising, I figure while I'm here building some strength and stamina wouldn't hurt. Even if it is only the slightest of gain it's better then nothing." She explained through huffs and puffs of some more jumping jacks.

"You could use some rest to, conserving your strength is also beneficial, you won't be much of a fight all tuckered out." Remus countered.

"Fine." Hermione huffed, dropping to the floor and leaning her back against the wall with her knees pulled up, her arms resting across them casually.

"It wasn't meant to be an insult you know." Remus replied a bit less groggily, as he shifted to his other side in order to look at her. Shifting his eyes to the window in the next room over he noticed that daylight was barely starting to show. That meant the window was to the West since he saw the sun set in that direction the other day, that at least gave him a bearing.

"Why us?" Hermione asked somberly after a few moments of silence had commenced. Remus sat up and furrowed his brow, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to straighten his thoughts.

"I couldn't tell you, we won't have any idea until we know exactly who took us." He replied honestly.

"Well do you think there is a connection between us or something, maybe because we know Harry Potter, or because we are members of the Order of the Phoenix, we both went to Hogwarts…" she trailed off, mostly to herself then to Remus.

"Most likely," Remus stood and stretched his back.

"I wonder what they will do to us," Hermione's face was emotionless and dark "I wonder what will happen to us." Hermione let a single tear slide down her face as memories of her family, her friends, her school, her future…nearly everything she held dear passed through her mind.

Remus let out a small sigh and walked over to the small girl. She may be strong but he had to remember she was only seventeen, and she did have valid points, there situation did not seem to lead to the fluffy bunnies and such side of things. Sitting down next to her he pulled her into his arms in a comforting gesture. She buried her head into the crook of his neck and basked in the comfort he was offering. They only had each other in this.

After a few moments passed she pulled back from him and wiped the dry tear tracks from her face with the back of her hands.

"Sorry, I just seemed to let the pressure get to me." She apologized, a sad smile gracing her face.

"No need to apologize, trust me the wet spot will dry." Remus joked, attempting to get her to smile or laugh anything to take her mind off the current situation. Just as she was about to reply they heard a noise that sounded the giant industrial machinery starting up, metal scraping against metal and the most horrible hissing noise of released steam.

Standing up Remus pulled Hermione so that she was standing behind him in a defensive measure. Then the noise stopped and a small red light came on above the door that led to the unknown, hopefully the exit. It was a light that neither had really taken note of before. It was a longular bulb that had a grate around it, like the ones found on freight liners. After a few seconds of the red light being on, it started to flash in a slow blinking motion.

Both occupants stayed silent and cautious of their surroundings.

It seemed like forever that they had been standing there. Hermione's muscles were locked in the best fighting stance she knew. Remus was obviously tense all over, his breathing steady and his eyes filled with an intense rage and concentration. Hermione could feel the anxiety and anger radiating off him in waves, and she couldn't even see his face.

Then out of no-where the huge metal door they had been looking at for the past half hour or so clicked open a smudge. Remus glared at the door, why hadn't they come in, he was sure he had heard to soft click of a lock give way, and he was positive that the door was ajar now. After waiting a few more moments for something to happen Remus noticed that the light had turned off.

When Remus made a move to head towards the door, about half way there the door pulled closed again with another soft click and he let out a frustrated yell.

"Cowardly bastards!" he screamed with a venom that sent shivers to the core of Hermione's being. He rushed the door and slammed into it with such force that Hermione swore she heard the sicking crack of bone. After a few more attempts Hermione cry'd out to him.

"Stop it." Her voice was barely a whisper, and he hadn't seemed to hear her as she charged the door yet again. His attempts not even dignified with a small dent in the metal. "Stop it!" she said a bit louder this time, her voice catching in her throat as she sank to the floor on her knees, silent tears sliding down her face yet again. Remus stopped and turned to look at her, letting out a frustrated and defeated sigh he ran his hand through his hair.

"Sorry." He mumbled, placing both hands in his pockets and casting his head down. He squinted his eyes shut attempting to hold back his own tears of frustration. "I got a little out of hand didn't I?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Hermione sniffled and nodded her head in response.

"I think I'm going to get a bath," she ventured, as she pushed herself off the ground and straightened out her clothes. "Maybe we'll have better luck later." And with a shrug she walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Remus sat down on the bed, resting his head in his hands. He was frustrated, hungry, and emotionally exhausted. He was on edge, and if his guess was correct so was Hermione. She hadn't outright sobbed or screamed her anguish yet, but given a few more days he wouldn't be surprised if she did. Hell he felt like doing it now, already had really.

What were these people up too? What did they want and why were they playing fucking games. Having someone come in a physically beat and torture him was one thing, but these tricks and all this petty shit was driving him insane.

When Hermione came out with dry hair, he assumed she had relaxed in a bath instead of opting for a shower. She had been inside the bathroom for nearly an hour. With a exasperated sigh, something he realized he had been doing quite often during his stay in the cell, he laid back on the bed, wincing when he laid on his shoulder.

"Sit up and let me see." Hermione demanded in a cool voice, leaving no room for argument. He pulled his shirt up over his head and rolled onto his stomach. Hermione noticed the round bruise starting to form and she went into the bathroom retrieving the only towel they had soaked in ice cold water. She placed it upon his skin and he sucked in a breath at the contact. "You probably have lots of knots now." Hermione brushed the tips of her fingers across his back, investigating its condition while avoiding hurting him.

"I'll live." Remus replied

"True, but in quite a bit of pain I suppose." Hermione stated, gently rubbing out some of the knots not in the bruising area with the pads of two fingers. Remus moaned at the contact as she worked out his kinks, it felt good to have a backrub. The last person to give him a back rub was Clara Banks in his fourth year, after a particularly bad transformation.

Remus fell asleep under her gentle ministrations. Hermione smiled down at the man, her motherly instincts had kicked in and she was glad that she was able to help at least somewhat. Some pain killers would have been lovely, even some bruise balm. But they didn't seem to have those luxuries.

Ignoring the growl in her stomach, Hermione covered the man with his portion of the blanket before climbing up and settling in next to him. It was going to be a long night, and she hoped it would be dreamless.

* * *

_A/N:I know this chapter was rather short, but I wanted to end it before they got through the door that everyone is now probably curious about. No worries you shall find out in the next update. I'd rather leave you with a cliffie then with twenty or so pages, which just might be the next update. No, more like ten realistically, but still much more then this chapter. I usually like to write seven or eight pages, but this one just called for me to end. I just don't want to pack to much into one chapter to the point where it makes it move to fast. _

_My Play list: Everyone needs a good list of mood songs to listen to when they write, so I decided to let you in on mine while I wrote this chapter:_

_Martina McBride - Concrete Angel_

_Anna Nalick - Wreak of the Day 06_

_Bif Naked – Lucky Ones_

_Train – Drops of Jupiter_

_Christina Aguilera – Walk Away_

_Saving Jane – Happy_

_Sea Wolf – You're a Wolf_

_Bif Naked – Vampire_

_Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing_

_Beta: Still looking, please review the first chapters A/N for the details. _

_Banner: If you would like to see the banner I made for this fic, visit my FF dot net profile and scroll down to the very bottom right before the list of stories I have written. You will find a link that I think is fairly easily labeled. If you do go take a gander at it please please leave me a comment I thrive on feedback. No seriously the more reviews I receive the faster I update. _

_A Special Thanks To: _HRInuyashaFan16, SG1Bauer, OpalTears. _They were the first reviewers and it was so refreshing to hear what they had to say. I am thinking on your advise HRInuyashaFan16, I re-edited chapter one to explain exactly how I would make the story interactive if that helps. We still have a ways to go because I want to set up the preliminary of the story first before I start letting readers choose their destiny. _

_And like always, _

_Please Read and __**REVIEW **_


	3. Chapter 3

_Posted: June-11-2008_

_Disclaimer: Yet again I find that as I search through all the copyrights I do own, that Harry Potter is not one of them. Dam!._

_A/N: I usually don't post authors notes as the beginning of the chapters because I feel it takes up space and distracts from the beginning of a chapter. But I needed to make and exception this time._

_This story has been rather slow these first few chapters, I apologize but it really needs to be this way. It will pick up very quickly so please bear with me. If you don't have the slow introduction background then you won't understand the rest of the fic very well when it does pick up._

_IMPORTANT: This chapter has not been beta'd yet. You will find lots of mistakes, if this bothers you don't read it until the beta'd versions of these chapters have been posted, as most of you know already I am currently looking for a dedicated beta (please see A/N for chapter one for details.)_

**Mind Games: Entry **

By: Morgansgurl

* * *

Three days. Remus estimated that they had been locked in the cell for approximately four days if going by the rotation of the sun meant anything. Of course that window could simply be enforced by magic and a day could be two or three and it was made intentionally to throw them off.

With the way these people were going about there capture, he had little doubt that they would do something like this. They had waited the next day, technically yesterday for the door to open again. But that moment never came. He and Hermione were hungry, very hungry. They resorted to drinking as much water from the sink as possible to try and fill there empty stomachs.

They hadn't had any nourishment except musty water for quite some time, and Remus was beginning to panic thinking they would actually let them starve. Remus was terrified on the inside because he knew that a human could last at least eight weeks maximum on nothing but water. Plenty of time for him to have to experience the next full moon without a wolfsbane potion; and he highly doubted that if that moment came and they hadn't been fed that the concrete wall and steal door separate him and Hermione would last long.

He groaned and leaned his head against the wall as his stomach growled again. Hermione was yet again in the shower, she mentioned how she needed something to occupy her mind, apparently the only options were washing herself and exercise, and they hardly had the energy to exercise.

In that time he and Hermione had gotten to know each other, he told her of how his lycanthropy came to be, how it affected him, he talked to her about it as if he were back in the Defense Against Dark Arts again. She had listened amply, and he was sure if she had a note pad she would have taken vigorous notes. There were a few scratched tic-tac-toe games on the wall, and they had made a rather fun game of spin-on-the-floor-catch with the dried up lip gloss bottle.

He listened as she spoke of her time at Hogwarts and at home, how her summer had been going up until the point of their current predicament. He also found out that she made a rather amusing squirrel. They had already tried fitting her through the window in the next room in her animagus form but alas it was still too small for her to fit through. She had attempted clawing under the door with her little paws but to no avail.

She had also spoken on her relationship with Ron. Apparently in her words 'he just doesn't seem to want to make the move to ask me, it's frustrating, I would say 'yes' and I've told him I would say 'yes' but does he listen to me? No! So what's a girl to do? Wait forever. Ugh' He found himself wondering why the boy hadn't made a move on the young witch yet, it was obvious to everyone that he was interested, and that she was willing, yet nothing had transpired and again in her words 'This has been going on for a year now, maybe he has some top secret reason for not wanting to move forward. Like maybe he secretly thinks I'm to smart for him or something.'

When she had asked him how he and Tonk's were doing he clamed up. It had been doing fine up until about a week ago. He remembered the moment vividly:

_Flashback_

"_Remus, your home." The joyful voice of Nymphadora rang out. He had had a long day at work and just wanted to relax by the fire with a good book. "I made you some dinner," with that Tonk's placed a overstuffed plate of food down on the table. Pulling out a chair and taking a seat in front of a smaller plate, a gracious smile on her face. _

"_You didn't have to." Was his simple reply. And she really didn't have to, he had already eaten at work, what did she expect, she hardly ever waited up and made dinner for him before. _

"_Oh but I wanted to." Her voice sounded entirely too sweet, and her smile just a little too big. "Come on, sit down," she motioned for him to take the empty seat with her fork. "I didn't slave over all this for you to just stand there." Remus raised a single eyebrow at her but complied, pulling out the old chair and slowly easing himself into it. _

"_Hard day at work?" she asked before shoving a forkful of mashpotatos into her mouth. _

"_Very. The pack was extremely difficult today; they were having trouble agreeing to my authority as the alpha male of them. But they seem to be coming around to our side, looks like Voldemort might loose a strong ally in a few more months if everything goes as planned….and you seem absolutely disinterested." He took note as she seemed to be staring down at her plate while she ate a gazed look in her eyes. He sighed, she always did this she never even pretended to be interested about his day when she asked about it, he figured he should just start replying with a simply 'oh, it was good, the usual.' And leave out the 'I almost got murdered today, shot a few people, took a hefty bite out of your mother' stuff. _

"_Hmmm, oh that sounds lovely." Was Tonk's empty response. It was the tone that people used when they said 'yes', 'uh-huh', 'sure' as a person talked and they weren't really listening. _

"_So how was your day?" He asked in return. He could have sworn he saw her shade turn a pinker shade of pink. _

"_It was wonderful!" she perked up, her eyes seemed to be glittering now. "I found out the most wonderful news today." She started._

"_Let me guess," Remus closed his eyes "Lucius Malfoy was murdered and his son and wife found his body and committed a double suicide."_

"_Well it's not that, though I suppose that would be fantastic news as well," Tonks thought with a small frown her head cocked to the side, a funny look in her eyes. Remus simply chucked, he was only joking, well partly. "I think it's better then that."_

"_You got promoted to head of the Order?" Remus took another wild guess, a sinking feeling in his stomach starting to build as they got closer to her news. _

"_Pffffft…" she scoffed at him, nearly chocking on her food. "Goodness no, your not very good at guessing you know." She responded resoundfully, a smile on her lips. _

"_Well I like to start big and work my way down, eventually one of my many dreams will come true," He smiled at her, "You never know, I might get lucky one of these days."_

"_Well I hope being a father was one of your dreams." Tonks blurted out, her cheeks nearly as pink as her hair and a small hand on her stomach. All the blood in Remus's face fled from his face leaving him a blanched sick looking color. His fork fell to the ground forgotten, and the silence in the room became thick and clouded. All of this went unnoticed by Tonks as she kept smiling brightly at her boyfriend. _

"_You're pregnant." Was his only response after a few moments of thick silence. "As in you have a child in your womb pregnant?"_

"_Is there a different kind of pregnant?" she asked confused, her eyes narrowing in thought. "I mean it's not a litter of pup wolves if that's what your thinking, no I'm pretty sure the nurse at St.Mungo's said it was a baby, as in human." _

_Now to fully understand Remus's reactions in these next few moments you need to understand a few facts about werewolves that most do not know. When a werewolf mates, he can only impregnate the one that the wolf has claimed as his life mate. Nymphadora Tonks was not his mate. One can only be claimed as a life mate by a blood bond and the willingness of both the mate and the mater. _

_A werewolf blood bond allows for both parties to become spiritually connected to one another. They can sense what direction their mate is in, they can feel their mates' emotions and sometimes, in moments of extreme duress they can even communicate without words through the mind. Though it wouldn't be considered telepathy because no words are passed through the mind, it's like a sudden knowledge is gained instead of a conversation taking place. The bond can also only be cemented by each individual trading blood and during an act of intimacy. It doesn't have to be sex per-say, just a very intimate moment with significant emotional meaning that is personal to the two involved. _

_It's usually sex though. _

_Second, when said mate becomes impregnated with the alpha mates spawn, he becomes connect to the child inside the womb as soon as the fertilized egg attaches to the uterus wall. The wolf will be able to hear the second heartbeat and know the progress of the Childs growth. It's a way to ensure that he knows the child is his. _

_Third, when the female mate is pregnant, her scent changes and her eyes obtain a wolfish quality since she is carrying the child of a werewolf. You can see a few golden looking flakes within the cornea. The pregnancy also only last seven months instead of the normal nine. _

_He was not mated with Tonks; he did not have a connection to a child in her womb. But she did the eyes and that odd scent he had smelt when he first came home he realized was now coming from her. She was definitely pregnant, but it certainly wasn't his. _

"_I see," he replied, his mind working overdrive now. "Whose is it?" He asked casually, he clearly didn't miss when she had said 'I hope one of your dreams is being a father' but that didn't necessarily mean that he was the biological father. Maybe she had gotten a magical pregnation from St.Mungo's. They did do that for desperate witches, and she really did talk about wanting a family often, despite his opinion that it wasn't a good time to bring a child into the world, she should wait until after the war at least. _

_Tonks had a dumbfounded look on her face and physically sat back further in her chair in surprise at the question. "It's yours obviously." She retorted in confusion, her tone clearly staying 'duh'. "Whose else's would it be." _

_She really thought she could get away with this!? Remus thought. _

_After a few more moments of uncomfortable silence Remus stood so quickly that his chair fell to the floor. He balled his hands into tight fists, and he glared down at her. Her smile faded a bit and the light in her eyes seemed to retreat slightly. _

"_Don't lie to me." He hissed. A venom in his voice that he had never, ever, directed to her before. On that accusation Tonks stood just as quickly, placing her hands on her hips, all mirth gone from her features. _

"_I'm not." She retorted, stomping a foot on the ground. _

"_How much do you know about werewolves Nymphadora?" Remus asked in a cool voice, his lips curling into a cruel smile. She faltered for a moment. _

"_Enough to know that the child I am carrying is yours!" She nearly yelled, her face flushing. _

"_Don't toy with me Dora, it's not becoming of you. I know that child is not mine." Remus said casually as he strolled around the table to be face to face with her, "Go do your homework on werewolves first and then bring this to the dinner table." He strolled passed her into the living room. _

_Anger flashed in her eyes as she turned on her heal and followed him. "How dare you!" She hissed as she grabbed his bicep with as much strength as she could muster, her nails breaking his skin and drawing faint traces of blood. He turned on her so quickly and slammed her back up against the living room wall. _

"_How. Dare. I." His voice was dark as he pressed his weight against her, his eyes flashing gold with rage. "You have the audacity to accuse me and say how dare I? How. Dare. You. Nymphadora Tonks. You are lying strait to my face and I know it, you know it, I'm sure the man you slept with knows it to." He spat in disgust, his face inches away from hers as tears started to slip past her lids. _

"_I-" She started, her voice cracking, but Remus cut her off. _

"_That better be a sentence telling me who the real father is." Remus warned, "Because if you're going to lie to me again I won't be responsible for my actions, and it wouldn't be wise to play games with me at the moment." _

_Tonks stalled for a few moments, tears streaming down her face and her hair now a dull pink. Her breathing was turning into hyperventilation as she averted her eyes from his. In that moment something inside of her broke besides her heart. _

"_Severus Snape." She whispered. _

"_What!" Remus yelled as he pushed off her as if she were fire. His eyes were wide and disbelieving._

"_I-I'm so sorry Remus, I didn't want to hurt you. I wanted us to be a family, and…and…"The words were strangled as she tried to talk through her closed up throat. _

"_And what, you thought I wouldn't notice if the child came out with greasy black hair." His voice was colder then before. In that moment she realized she was dead to him, she didn't matter anymore, and she probably never would again. He grabbed his traveling cloak and threw it on, making his way to the door the slammed it open. _

"_Remus," Tonks pleaded as she sank to the floor on her knees, still in the spot that he had pinned her to previously. "I love you." She cried. Hoping beyond hope that he would forgive her. Return to her. Love her._

_Without looking back over his shoulder, one hand holding the door open and his head down he replied "I'm thankful in this moment that I never loved you." And with that said he shut the door behind him with a soft click. Leaving Tonks with nothing but her wails and tears. _

_End Flashback_

That had happened two days before he turned, a day before he was captured. That night his beast had raged, he often didn't remember his nights after his transformation, but when he woke up in the cell that day, bits and pieces started returning to him. He mostly remembered the extra intense urge to hunt and kill; he could remember the beasts' anger and hatred. The beast was apart of him, they weren't really separate entities as everyone like to think.

The beast isn't just some wild animal that came out once a month, it was intelligent, cunning. Couldn't talk or anything like that, but it wasn't some dumb dog. His werewolf side is just like a animagus, only that animagus has a will and power of it's own, and he often doesn't remember what occurred when in that form. That and he can't change at will.

"Hello," Hermione asked as she waved a hand in front of his dazed face. He looked up to her and the fog of his memories dissipated. She had a concerned look on her face as she stared down at him.

"Sorry, I was taking a trip down memory lane, I must have spaced out." He responded, stretching his arms above his head and his legs out.

"I'd say so, I had called your name three times before I decided to walk over here and bring you out of her reverie. You had me scared for a second, I thought that maybe they had started to lace the water we were drinking with something." Her tone was deadly serious, and she sounded far too concerned. But he was the only thing she had at the moment; she hardly doubted she could have stayed this center minded without him there.

"They might have, who knows." Came his honest reply. He hadn't tasted anything, and he was always checking, always cautious, but one could never be sure. Hermione took a seat directly in front of him a few feet back. Her legs crossed underneath her.

"So tell me about your family life." She asked, she had already informed him of hers.

"Mine?" Remus thought for a moment, it had been such a long time since he had really recalled much of his old family life. "Well my mother was muggle-born, and she was very strict about not doing everything with magic. She was also very loving; she became depressed and detached when she found out that I had been cursed though." His eyes became foggy as he recalled that particular moment.

"My father was a hard working man; we were well off seeing as he came from a decent line of pure-bloods. He lost most of the family wealth when he offended Fenrir Greyback though. I was only part of the retribution, since then I have learned to live without lavish innecessities…It was a good home to grow up in, I was well cared for even after the curse. I didn't have many friends because we lived so far up in the mountains, but the deep forest helped calm my newly acquired inner beast. I mostly lost myself in books, and helped the caretakers tend to the grounds before I went off to Hogwarts." He finished.

"What about your parents? Are they still alive?" she asked. When his eyes averted from hers she feared she had tread on to personal ground as she had earlier with the Tonks question. He had told her they weren't together anymore, but she knew better then to press the matter, the man obviously looked like he didn't want to discuss the issue.

"My father was murdered in my fourth year of Hogwarts; I have my suspicions as to who did it…" He trailed off, a brief flash of rage entering his eyes before dissipating. "My mother died before I graduated in my seventh year, the cause is still unknown because we never found a body." He ended sadly.

"She could still be alive though since you never found a body though?" Hermione stated, her mind calculating the possibilities. When he looked back at her she realized that he had no hope of ever finding out what happened to his mother. "Well, maybe we should try a happier subject then…" she mumbled to herself, slouching further to the ground.

"What is your favorite subject at Hogwarts?" Remus asked suddenly, more then willing to change the subject from him to her.

"Oh, that's easy transfiguration." Hermione replied with a broad smile. But she noticed that Remus didn't smile at her instead he raised and eyebrow at her.

"I didn't ask you the subject you were best at, I asked you what your favorite was." Remus replied, a mirthful tone lacing his voice.

"Oh, well," Hermione was confused "shouldn't what I'm best at be my favorite?" She asked.

"Not always," Remus let out a breath "Mine was Potions believe it or not. No one would ever guess it suppose, and majority vote has always been Defence considering I went back to teach it. Limited as the time was."

"Why potions?" she asked, extremely curious but trying not to show it. She personally hated potions sometimes, but she supposed that that often had to do more with Snape then the actual class.

"It was the one class I had with Lily my first year of Hogwarts, that was how I met James, and through James was how I met Sirius and so on. She was technically my first friend." Was his simple reply, his eyes becoming watery as he looked off into a distant unknown place. She could tell he was becoming nostalgic.

"Care of Magical Creatures." Hermione responded.

"I'm sorry…" Remus asked as he lowered his eyes back to her form and cleared his mind.

"My favorite class is Care of Magical Creatures. I only took three years of it because of Harry and Hagrid but everyone kept telling me that it's no use to the ministry really, or any other respectable job unless you plan on teaching it or working with animals. So making the responsible smart move I opted for Ancient Ruins instead." She explained.

"You shouldn't always do what you think is responsible, you should do what you love once in awhile." Remus advised, talking from experience "There isn't always time to go back to it later." Hermione remained silent, contemplating his words. She really did miss learning about the many creatures that as she child she was told were mythical, she really did miss the adventure and uncertainty. There were just some things you couldn't gain from a book and she found that as she had been in the class that she craved interactive learning instead of a good read. It was a new intellectual challenge for her, and Hagrid often told her she had a natural way with the creatures. She respected them and apparently she had a certain charisma.

After an hour or more of talking and reminiscing with each other, the red light above the door turned on. It wasn't until the cranking noises began that they realized what was happening. They both pushed off the wall into standing positions simultaneously, various thoughts going through their heads.

Remus quickly made his way to stand in front of Hermione as he had the first day the noises and light had teased them. The routine went as it had the other day, the light started to blink rapidly before shutting off completely and the soft click of a lock was heard moments before the large steal door propped open a slight bit.

After waiting a few seconds Remus made the rash decision to open the door. "Stay put." He hissed, his anger not directed at her per-say, but his demand was not to be challenged. He took fast steps to the door, placing his hand on the bar handle, bracing himself for the worst he pulled it open with all his might in one swift fluid movement.

As he peered past the exit to their cell he noticed that all he could see was black. Everything was black, no grey detail, no shadows, nothing. Just and inky well of pitch black emptiness. Before he could pull back from the scene before his eyes he felt a sudden pull in the pit of his stomach and panic rose in his throat.

"Hermione," He called his voice on the verge of irrational panic, he couldn't move his limbs, he couldn't look away, and he felt himself being pulled by a force unknown.

"Remus?" Hermione asked, suddenly more nervous and frightened. But she didn't move, she did as she was told and stayed where he had left her standing. She could tell that he was beginning to panic, and it was unusual for him not to move, she couldn't even see the usual strain that was interwoven in his muscles from years of living on edge. Before he could say anymore he felt his entire body lurch forward and heard the sound of heavy steal shutting with a deafening force.

* * *

Thoughts were flooding Hermione's mind. One moment he was standing there, and the next, it was as if the door hadn't ever opened only this time Remus wasn't in the room with her. She was frozen in place, she felt like either she couldn't think or she was thinking too much. She felt as if she wouldn't be able to tell up from down, or left from right at the moment.

Her breath was locked in her chest and she could hear her blood rushing past her ears and pulsing in her fingertips. She physically couldn't decide to weather to start crying, panicking, or fainting.

You ever have a moment in your life where you were emotionally and physically paralyzed. As if you know you are there, but you feel like you are watching from a corporal state what is proceeding in your life. As if a series of events knocks every emotion, every will from you body in a shrill sweep.

This was that moment for Hermione. A moment of intense shock that she had never experienced before. It was the kind of paralyzing moment that would scar an individual for life and leave them with ever-lasting tormenting anxiety attacks.

And then as if she everything were falling back together at an alarming rate, she fell to the floor landing on her knees. The emotional pressure forcing her to the ground in duress. She couldn't form a single coherent thought, she couldn't even cry, she couldn't force her voice to scream.

She was torn between pulling her hair out in frustration and rolling up into a ball and sobbing her eyes out till Sunday. But she couldn't do any of that. She couldn't even blink.

She sat there transfixed on the door for the rest of the day, no emotion playing on her face, no movement coming from her body. Only the loud pants resounded off the walls when she let out a large amount of breath and took another in, until the need for oxygen compelled her to restart the cycle. It was forced breathing out of the need for survival. Instincts had kicked in, her brain simply wasn't functioning.

It wasn't until she heard the call of a distant sparrow did her world come crashing back to reality in an intense swirl of colors. Her eye's blinked, her throat went dry and she began to cough, her body shook with uncontrollable tremors. Her breathing increased into hyperventilation and panic surged through her with such force that she felt bile rise in her throat.

Standing on shaky legs, she stood still for a few moments before a sob broke through her mouth. It was like a dam had been broken, tears sprang forth streaming down her face in throws, dripping onto her clothes and puddling onto the floor. She bit her lip hard and tasted blood. At the copper taste she coughed loudly and threw her torso to the side, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the ground.

She stayed leaned over for a bit, hacking up spit, mucus and stomach acid then spitting it onto the ground until she felt like she could handle standing again. She was dizzy and sick. She was sure that she wouldn't be able to put up a fight if presented with one, wasn't even sure if she even wanted to.

Lifting her head up and brushing the loose hair out of her eyes with trembling fingers she rested her gaze on the spot Remus had once been. She spit a few more times before righting her body. Closing her eyes she took a moment to compose herself, but it felt useless. Was useless. When she opened her eyes again and rested on the handle his hand had touched something broke inside her. She rushed the door, sliding to the floor and scraping her knees as she came to a halt in front of the handle.

She tugged and tugged, putting all the effort and strength her body had left in her in attempts to open the steal door. She pounded her fists against it, she kicked it, she scratched at it until her nails were ripped and the tips were bloody. She bit at the bolts trying to undo them with her teeth, she pushed, shoved, heaved. Every bit of effort she could muster up went strait into that door.

At one point she grabbed the bar holding her old cell door open and starting beating the door with it, causing some sparks to fly as metal came into contact with metal. She beat the door until she had nothing left in her; she beat and hurled herself at the door until she was sure her shoulder was broken. It sure felt broken. When she finally exhausted herself out she fell to her knees in front of the door, leaning up against it and one cheek pressing into the cool metal and both hands above her head also pressed against the door.

Her fingers curled as if she were trying to grip the metal of the door like cloth. Her eyes scrunched shut as more tears that she didn't even think she had slipped past. Her heart beat was racing in her chest and she wanted to continue her efforts but she simply didn't have anymore energy to give.

"I'm sorry Remus." Hermione sobbed in a whisper. "I…" Her body racked with sobs she curled into a ball next to the door, her hands curling into her hair and pulling. She let out the most blood curdling scream one could imagine, and she just kept screaming until her voice was raw and nearly gone. "I-tried." She finished as she drifted off into a restless and fitful sleep. Her back pressed against the steel.

* * *

Remus awoke on a floor that was rather plushy, which was odd because floors weren't usually plushy. He lifted his head a bit off the ground and groaned. As he opened his eyes he noticed that everything was rather blurry, he couldn't tell if that was because of where he was at or if his own eyesight was failing him.

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead back against the plushy ground. Once his world stopped its relentless spinning he turned himself over and sat up, breathing it deep to help subside the dizziness he was feeling at the sudden movement. Opening his eyes he had to keep himself from gasping. The room was amazing to say the least.

It was decorated in rich gold's, burgundies, browns, creams and blacks. It was overly huge and it looked like it was just a living room. The walls were ornamentally carved and the entryways were all rimmed with real looking silver. The deep chestnuts of the room shown from the high ceiling lights, two large couches and three sitting chairs circled a humungous fireplace. A porcelain tea set that was hand painted sat in the center of the coffee-table, steam coming from its spout.

There was a soft and comforting air about the room, and he could smell fresh shrimp sandwiches. His stomach rumbled with starvation at the scent of food, of something nourishing. As he took a closer look at the carpet beneath his hands he realized that it was very soft and squishy. The room and the flourishing could have cost more then the entire Black and Malfoy manors combined.

He stood up, using the textured wall paper behind him to support himself as the other clutched his temple. He started developing a raging migraine and he could swear that something wasn't right but he couldn't feel any harsh or negative emotions. Confusion. Delusion. But not much else.

Something was knowing at his brain as he made his way clumsily over to one of the sitting chairs. Something really important but he couldn't seem to put his finger on it, the harder he would think about it the more it just seemed to allude him. He would have felt frustrated if he had the ability to.

He eased himself into one of the plush chairs and raised his feet onto an entirely too overstuffed ottoman, throwing his head back and resting it upon the seam of the chair. He felt like he was sinking into the material, like his body was floating. On some weird instinct he reached to a side table and placed his hand one something fluffy, cot and wet. Wet. When he looked over at his hand to see what his fingers had come into contact with, he saw bread. God for loving bread.

It took him a few moments for his mind to rationalize there was food in close proximity to him, but by the time that had happened, it was already sitting in his stomach. He felt as if he was going to be physically sick, he had eaten the entire plate of shrimp cakes in less then a minute. He was sure he swallowed most of them whole.

He was determined to keep the food down if it killed him, and by the way his body was reacting, the thought crossed his mind that it just might. What's the old saying? Go a week without water make sure to take a sip. He was sure that it applied to food in some way, and he was sure that if it had been a week he wouldn't have had the strength to keep the food down. He really needed to focus on his abdominal muscles in order to make them relax.

It wasn't until he lolled his head to the side in a way to relax, and peaked his corneas from out underneath his lids did his focus land upon a door. A very large, that was silver in color, and appeared to be very heavy. He narrowed his eyes at the door in confusion, that door meant something. He knew it meant something he just, it just, ugh, he couldn't process it.

After a couple hours of investigation of the room, a bit of rest and some hot tea he jumped at the sound of a banging coming from the direction of the door. It was insistent, it was loud, and it was hurting his ears. Causing his head to ring in all sorts of unpleasant ways.

He began to near the door with hesitant steps; it obviously didn't fit in with the rest of décor, as if it was a additive, as if it shouldn't belong. When the banging became louder as he got closer the fog that was strangling his brain started to loosen. When he reached out and touched the door, and the coolness of it spread throughout his entire being, something broke.

"Hermione!" He screamed like a mad man. His voice was strangled and coarse, as if it hadn't been used in years. As his mind started racing a mile a minuet, his heart beat increased its pace, his breathing turned laboring. He started to hit the door with a closed fist, it seemed that the more the came into contact with the door, the more clarity came back to him. The more of his own memories were back in his reach.

He started ripping the wall paper around the door searching for anything, a button, a switch, a super secret wall crack or brick that would push in and magically open the door. He needed to stay close to the door though and keep in some contact with it because as soon he let go of the door he could feel the fog starting to swarm forward and he refused to let his mind go again.

Then an odd thought occurred to him. He hadn't tried the door handle yet, it was obviously there, it's not like the door was missing it, and he just hadn't focused on it. Not until he looked down and saw it protruding from the smooth metal. When his hand touched it he closed his eyes and prayed to whatever God that would listen.

Apparently a God, Goddess or force of life was listening to his silent prayers because as soon as she turned the handle the door swung open, only this time it was in the opposite direction from which it had opened the first time. Lying in front of him was a seemingly fragile Hermione on the ground.

His first thought as he fell to the ground on his knees before her was that he had lost her. He had failed in protecting her. He had failed in the one thing he had secretly vowed to himself when they woke up in this mess. Pulling her body to his he cradled her head in his hands, her back resting on his bent knees. He felt the urge to rock her but didn't. His hands stroked her curled hair reverently, and then he realizes something very important. She was breathing. Only living people could breathe.

When it appeared like she was about to rouse, Remus felt the familiar tug on his stomach again and immediately increased his hold on Hermione. If he was going to be pulled back into the darkness behind him he was going to take her with him this time, he would make sure of it.

* * *

Hermione and Remus were a tangled mess of limbs. Hermione was moaning and groaning as she was rudely awakened by a sick tug in her abdomen followed by a severe crash on top of a not so comfortable body. As she rolled off of Remus onto the plushy soft ground, she noticed something.

The ground was plushy, since when was the cell they were in plushy anywhere. As she peaked one eye opened, half afraid of what she might see, she saw a ceiling of cream and gold, intricate carvings of leaves and flowers. Here eyes followed the pattern until her head was turned upwards from her body and her eyes came to rest on a large crystal chandelier.

She flipped immediately onto her stomach and pushed herself up on her arms and looked around the room Remus had already seen. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw how generously decorated and elaborate it was, and the soft scent of honey spice tea wavered into her nose.

Looking next to her she saw Remus laying on his back, she snaked out a hand and pushed him gently a few times. His head lolled to the side a few times before he opened his eyes and turned to look at her. His head hurt again. He closed his eyes and decided just to lay there until the hangover feeling subsided.

He didn't get a chance to as Hermione threw herself at him and clutched his body as if she let go he would be gone. He felt the silent trembling of her crying and snaked a arm around her shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"I thought I lost you." She whispered into his ear. "I thought I was going to have to go through this alone, I broke in there without you. I thought," Her voice choked on her words. "I thought they had killed you." His eyes became watery-eyed as well as he felt a few stray tears of hers fall onto his neck and shoulder.

"It's ok, Hermione. I'm right here." He didn't dare promise not to leave her again, because he was afraid to make a promise that he possibly wouldn't be able to keep. There was no telling what was going to happen to them next. After a few very long moments Hermione separated herself from his body and stood up on shaky legs.

"This is amazing," Hermione gasped out, wiping tears from her face with the back of her hands and cautious of her surroundings. Then her face turned into a frown. "This doesn't make any sense at all." She stated.

Remus followed suit and stood next to her. Examining the room again with a clear head, then he noticed miniature ham sandwiches on the coffee table with cube cheese next to it. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to one of the couches and sat her down.

"Eat something," he proffered to food that she hadn't noticed earlier. When she took the cheese and scarfed it down Remus laughed, but stopped her when she reached for more. "Eat slowly, I know your hungry but trust me, you'll just make yourself sick and end up loosing everything you had just eaten." He handed her a little sandwich and watched as she shook with her attempts to control her speed of eating.

As she was eating and savoring the taste of food in her mouth, Remus decided to explain what had happened to him before when in this same room. "I fell into this place the first time I had opened the door, but I couldn't think clearly, I couldn't feel any negative feelings. It was the oddest sensation in the world. It wasn't until I heard a banging from the door over there," he pointed out the back of the steal door to Hermione that they had just fallen through. "And touched it, did I regain my clarity."

Hermione listened intently to what he was saying; she half expected to be feeling what he was describing now. But her mind didn't feel fogged, and she could definitely feel panic at the description he was giving. Along with worry and confusion. She continued to listen as she tried her hardest to nibble on the bread, lettuce and meat in her little sandwich.

"I tried everything to get back to you, but every time my hands left the door my mind started to become fogged again. When I finally had enough sense to try the door handle, I was more then surprised it had opened," His words stopped in his throat as that moment flashed through his memory again. "I thought you had died." He finished, his voice racked with emotions.

Hermione had watery eyes at the end of his explanation, and she was sure if she told him her story that she would start balling her eyes out yet again. She was so sick of crying, so sick of all the emotions that were weighing her down constantly. Sick of all the pressure and uncertainty.

Before she could respond there was a resounding 'Pop" noise that startled them both.

"Isn't this cozy." Came a cool, unfamiliar, female voice. Before they had time to process anything Remus lunged at the woman, she just smiled and held up a hand, when a blue orb surrounded her Remus ran directly into in, falling ungracefully onto his ass, his hip hitting sharp edge of the coffee table on the way down. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." The woman stated in the most honey sweet voice, she didn't sound angry with him, which was odd to Hermione.

Remus stood up and charged her again, thinking the barrier had dissipated, but he came into contact with it again, this time he punched it a few times. Every place his fist came into contact with would send a series of blue water waves appearing out of thin air and circling the woman. The barrier was still there but clear, transparent.

"I'm really the only one that can help you unless you'd like to do this all on your own." She started, crossing one of her legs over the other and tapping her red painted nails on the arms of the chair she was stitting on. When Remus finally sat down, Hermione had time to study the intruder.

She was thin, very tall; she had long blond hair pulled up into a tight bun with a few strands falling on the side of her face. She was pale, to pale. She wore a black pinstriped jacked with a matching pencil skirt. She was very tall, toe showing, stilettos. Her toes matched the paint on her long fingernails and so did the color of her lipstick. Her thin lips were pursed into a line when she realized that Hermione was studying her, and her crystal blue eyes darkened.

"I'm Natilda." The woman offered. "I'm here to prepare you in sorts."

"Prepare us for what?" Remus bit out, his eyes narrowing.

"Don't treat me like your capture Remus," the woman gave him a comforting look. "I'm hardly close, I would say I'm your only friend in this." She gave him a small smile but Hermione didn't like the glint in her eye.

"In what exactly?" Hermione asked, the wheels turning in her head reverently.

"Why, haven't you figured it out? You're in The Game." The woman supplied a small bit of surprise on her face but she hid it quickly. Her demeanor staying cold and detached.

"The Game." Hermione stated to herself, not sure what it meant.

"Yes, there is a lot of money riding on you two you know. My benefactors are expecting a hell of a show this time," the woman switched her crossed legs, leaning forward in her seat. "They tell me you are witches, and that you both are highly intelligent. I also know your names but passed that I can't tell you much about yourselves." Natilda looked between the both of them as she finished.

"Then tell us about this Game." Hermione asked. Remus stayed quiet and let Hermione deal with the woman, she seemed to be getting more out of her then he would anyway.

Natilda gave a wide grin showing off her pearly white teeth. To Hermione the woman was sickening not pretty.

"That's what I am here for, after this meeting you won't be seeing me again so I suggest you listen carefully." Natilda took in a deep breath. "The Game is as old as time, but as technology has increased so has The Game. It used to be a test of mans endurance, two people pitted against each other, only one returning to his life alive." Natilda reached next to her and placed a briefcase on her lap and continued talking.

"Recently, for the past hundred years or so, The Game has turned into a betting match between strong and powerful men. They bet on your survival, but this year we have decided that instead of making you competition to each other you will be allies. You will go through a series of tests, challenges, traumas." She explained, as if all of this was normal.

"So this is for others pleasure then." Remus spat.

"Of course." Natilda replied as if it were obvious, but normal.

"What do they bet on exactly?" Hermione asked "These men, what are they betting on us for?"

Natilda simply smiled. "I shall explain later. First I need to take you through the preliminary." She stood and made her way over to the far side of the room furthest from the steal door. She pulled back a tapestry and motioned for them to follow as she stepped behind it disappearing from the room.

Remus and Hermione passed glances between themselves, curios and afraid. Hermione nodded her head and stood; in retrospect they really didn't have much of a choice but to follow the woman. They were sure that any information they could gain would be vital to their survival.

As they passed under the tapestry the came into a storage room of sorts. The walls were lined with various bottles filled with varying liquids. One wall was made of a glass cabinet that held various weapons. The last was a wall with two very giant sliding wood doors. Natilda was sitting at a metal table in the middle of the room, one chair on her side and two empty ones on the other.

Remus considered making a dash for the weapons and taking the head off the woman, but Hermione placed a hand on his arm and silently urged him to just sit and listen. He was thankful that someone was rational. All he could feel was contempt and rage.

"Good, now listen up, I'll only say this once." The blond started as she placed some papers onto the table. "You can take anything in this storeroom with you if you can carry it. I suggest you make wise choices because you won't be able to carry all of it, or even a lot. And you may loose some of it in certain challenges," she started as if this were an everyday procedure for her.

"You will get two shoulder bags made of hemp to carry any potions, ingredients, weapons, changes of clothes, etcetera. If you choose to take any large weapons like a sword, axe, bow and arrows, you will be supplied with a belt to hold them, which can be found in the wardrobe behind me. I don't suggest loading yourselves up because you will need to be very fast at some points," She started to pull out more papers before Remus cut her off.

"Why are you telling us all of this?" He asked disbelieving.

"Because we don't want you to die in the first few challenges, were giving you an opportunity to survive. There are millions at stake for some people and they decided that they want the best odds of winning. If you haven't noticed I haven't told you about any of the challenges, now," Natilda pushed one of the papers over to Hermione. "This is a list of all the potions that are in this room on that wall," she pushed a paper over to Remus "This is a list of all the weapons and what they are best for. Review the lists carefully while making your decisions."

"Is there a way out of this Game?" Hermione asked. She figured the answer would be no, but at least she would be satisfied with herself if she tried.

"Yes," Natilda stated, not looking at them, but both of their eyes shot up to look at her, waiting. "To Play." She pulled out a series of small wooden boxes the size of a ring box and placed them all in front of her. "Now, I was told you are witches, your wands have been removed for the purpose of The Game, if you make it out alive you can have them back." Remus kept his eyes on the small boxes, not trusting of the woman in front of him for plenty a good reason.

"These boxes contain certain spells and qualities, like Strength, Teleportation, the ability to wield Fire from your hands; Mind Reading, Knowledge…the full list is on the table here. You can both choose two to help you, but beware you will be stuck with those qualities. Make your choices carefully because once you open a box you can't trade it." She closed her briefcase and made to stand.

"When do we have to start this," Remus sounded disgusted "Game of yours?" he asked, a headache starting to form.

"Whenever you feel like it actually. In this room you will be supplied with food, safety, anything you might need. The last Game we had the occupants stayed in this room for a few years before committing suicide, they never even stepped foot into the arena. Wasted millions if you ask me." Her voice was flippant and nonchalant.

"And where is this arena located? How do we get to it?" Hermione asked, curious.

"By stepping into the fire in the fireplace. It will immediately take you to your next location to begin the Game."

"So this is a sick Snuff Film then?" Hermione spat, angry at the world.

"Hardly," the woman scoffed, her face contorted in distaste. "None of this will be recorded, of course there will be camera's and various objects tracking your progress so our sponsors can watch and see, but it wont be sold or shown, or even kept for that matter. That is not the purpose of the Game." She responded in explanation. As she made to dart back out through the tapestry Hermione stopped her.

"You still haven't told me what they bet on." She stated, awaiting an answer to her earlier question.

"Your survival." She responded, a smile on her face.

"So there betting on us living then." Remus asked, hopeful. The woman cocked her head to the side, her eyes curious and narrow, a devilish smile on her face.

"No," she said slowly, wanting to make sure they fully understood. "They are betting on how soon you will die; the both of you." She responded.

"Bitch!" Remus hissed making a move to stand and beat the living shit out of her. Before he could even get fully on his feet the woman said a few words and had disappeared. Hermione had caught her words though and they were said with an icy coldness that spread into her core.

'Welcome to The Game.' That's what she had said right before a loud pop and gone from their sight.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, see wasn't it much longer then the last one like I promised. Wow it took me forever to write to. I was caught up between writing this and watching online episodes of Bones, House, Desperate Housewives, and Ugly Betty on Hulu Dot Com. But here it is, probably a spelling error atrocity but here none the less. _

_If you're curious it's a whopping 19 pages in length. Don't expect all the updates to be that long, expect five to ten pages as the average, most of the challenges will be separate chapters. _

_Also, this fic is rated 'M' for future chapters for a reason. It is also a Remus/Hermione paring so if either bothers you (though the warning is a little late if you are still reading this story) I suggest you stay away, I love to write graphic sex scenes lol. No I'm very serious. _

_So, I have some thanks to hand out: To the wonderful reviewers, and I only hand out thanks to reviewers, if you want your name mentioned…review _

_OpalTears: Thank you, I rather like the mood I created to. Expect it to just get more intense later on. Keep reading and thank you for the positive feedback._

_HRInuyashaFan16: Thank you, and I understand that the way I put it sounded rather confusing. What about this because the chapter numbers were just and example: "Hermione steps through door 1 go to chapter 4", "Hermoine steps through door 2 go to chapter 5." And then "Hermione kisses Remus go to chapter 6.", Hermione doesn't kiss Remus go to chapter 7." I hope that clarifies it more. I can see how chapter 3 and 5 for examples was confusing. _

_I haven't made up my mind about that yet though, so we'll have to see. Part of me would love to do it just to be original…but I'm not sure I'd want to put in that much effort. I would have to write two chapters for every one…escalading into a lot of writing later. We'll see, If I do decide to do it though I hope you stick with me. _

_Monnbeam: I hope this chapter was as good as you were expecting it to be. Thank you and keep reading and reviewing. _

_Rosablasifann08: Why Thank You: blushes, you are very flattering. I hope that length of this chapter made up for the disappointment of reaching the end in the last chapter. And I've read a lot of Remus/Hermione fics but none with really this concept or idea…if you or anyone knows of any please let me know. I like to think it's original, so it's nice to think others do as well. _

_MarauderMooney: Oh, I loooooved Sinews of Thy Heart too, it's on my fav stories list.. I'm glad that this story has given you something new to read. I'm also flattered that I got you to review when you don't do so often, it's always nice to know that people think my meager story is that good. _

_Emberlyn Silvermoon: Hee Hee, here is the next update like you asked, though it took me longer then one night so I apologize. And I am totally taking your evil bunny and posting it at the end of this A/N._

_MoonNightLover: I think and interactive fic would work with this plot too, I haven't read any in a very long time and I do enjoy them and good ones are nearly impossible to come across. And I don't think I've ever had a review for any of my stories that called it simply fabulous. Thanks that was really a boost and made me want to write more. _

_SG1Bauer: Yeah I go through my work and find them all the time after I post. I fixed the first and second chapter as best I could…I'll go back through and do a sweep through. That's why I'm looking for a qualified beta. So bear with me until I find one, until then I've decided to post a warning at the beginning of the chapter stating it's unbeta'd work if that helps. Thank you for your reviews though, they really do help. _

_That's about it for now. If you loved the story or even have constructive criticism, then please Review. I can't tell you guys enough how much going into my email box and seeing a new review gives me the drive and motivation to write more. _

(\/)  
(O.o) /\  
_Copy the bunny to your presentation to help him achieve world domination,  
and come join the dark side. (We have cookies.) _

_Thanks for the awesome bunny go to Emberlyn Silvermoon. Yes I totally stole it from her profile. _

**I'm also going to do some promotion for not me: If you like my story because it's original, go read sharahenley's story Through The Looking Glass! and I'm not just biased a select few may understand what I mean It is really good, and I would love for her to continue it but her Reviews have been lacking. Come on people, lets show her was readers can do! Now Go, Go, GO!**

_R&R_


	4. Chapter 4

_Posted: 7-30-08_

_A/N: This fic is still unbeta'd. I have yet to have a qualified dedicated one show up on my door step beggin' for work. :tear: _

**Mind Games: Resolution**

By: Morgansgurl

Hermione was exasperated, they had spent over five hours examining the traits in the little wooden boxes, going over the plethora of weapons, and filtering through the –what turned out to be a very large dressing room and closet- wardrobe. They had come to the decision that they would play this little game for now, because something deep in Hermione warned her that the woman wasn't bluffing about anything that she had said.

"I'm hungry." Remus stated bluntly, accompanied by a feral growl coming from his stomach. Hermione just hummed in response as she went over the potions list one more time. When Remus realized that Hermione had basically ignored him he sighed, "That was kind of a queue to drop what we are doing and go get some food."

Hermione glanced up at him from her sitting position before she was attaked by a yawn. Her body forced her arms up and legs out in a stretch as she arched her back and threw her head back. After a contented sigh she stood from her chair, rotating both her shoulders as she did so. "That actually sounds like a lovely idea, that woman did say that we could stay here as long as we wanted." She mulled to herself.

"She also mentioned that the previous players committed suicide." Remus bit out as he held the tapestry open for her.

"Yes, well, I simply choose to ignore that part because we won't be doing that." Hermione shot back sarcastically, as she stepped out of the room. Remus followed, curbing the urge to roll his eyes.

They both walked over the center sitting area, Hermione nearly collapsed onto the plush sofa, her body and mind exhausted.

"So," Remus started, staring at the table in between them. "How does this work, how do we force the table to give us food." Remus eyed the table quizzically. Hermione just laid her body down on the sofa and closed her eyes, her hands behind her head and ankles crossed. Suddenly a plate appeared with strawberries, banana slices; a dumpling soup with garlic bread, Hermione peaked through one eye and sighed. Remus raised an eyebrow at her.

"Wasn't exactly what I was going for," she explained before sitting up and retrieving her bowl along with some bread.

"Doesn't deflect the fact that you have food and I don't, how did you do that?" he asked in all seriousness.

"I relaxed is all," She explained through a bite of food. "I relaxed my mind and thought of the aroma of food I wanted."

Remus lulled this over in his head, he remembered that he had smelt the shrimp tray before ever laying eyes on it; maybe the room was triggered by sensorial detectors. He closed his eyes and laid his head back on the edge of the sofa. He thought of the roast beef his mother had made, the noodle soup that Sirius would sometimes attempt to cook, but the smell that wavered into his senses was the steaming stir fry of Lily Evans. When he opened his eye's he saw a plate of deliciously hot stir fry, some potato's, and asparagus.

"How did you think of that?" Hermione asked, as she looked at his rather complicated and elaborate plate with side dishes.

"It was the last meal Lily had made for me, Sirius, Peter and James." He responded sullen and nostalgic. He closed his eyes against the memory, that meal had technically been the last meal for the marauders in his eyes. Hermione said nothing, instead opting for another bite of food and letting the moment pass.

After each of them had finally sated their irritable stomachs, Hermione opted for stretching out in front of the fire, a light blanket covering her legs and hips. Remus stretched out as well, his long legs easily resting on the coffee table, his arms behind his head.

"Now if only I had a nice book." Hermione commented, her fingers playing with the blanket numbly.

"She mentioned the room would give us what we needed, not what we wanted." Remus chuckled.

"It would still be nice to have something to keep my mind off this impending doom I feel." Hermione sighed; her eye's glistening in the firelight. Remus lifted his head off his hands and looked at her, really looked at her.

She was frail and broken on the inside but she had such a fiery streak that she often refused to show it. She was still a young woman, and he found himself constantly reminded of that fact. He moved from his position until he was seated next to her, gently pulling her into his embrace without a word. Her back fitting in perfectly to the crook of his arm and chest. The embrace was comforting, and Hermione swore to herself that she wouldn't cry this time, she only needed to know that they would be all right, and even if his embrace wasn't a guarantee, it was still something.

"How about we get some sleep?" Remus asked in a whisper.

"But we have so much to do!" Hermione protested, a yawn stifling her arguments.

"It can wait until tomorrow, I think. Let all the information settle in first," Remus counter argued, gently picking the girl up in his arms after several moments "besides you can't think properly when exaughsted anyway." With that he set her on the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin and sitting down next to her.

"You can stay you know," Hermione mumbled, her voice trailing off. Remus smiled down at her, she was always thinking about others.

"I hardly see that as proper seeing as there is a more then capable couch over there." Remus chuckled; when he made to stand he was stopped by her hand gripping his, her eyes pleading.

"I'd feel safer if you stayed," Her hand gripped his tighter when he made to move away, her eyes begging him with unshed tears and worry. "Please." She whispered, and his resolve to stay proper was thwarted. He sighed and removed his boots before pulling back the covers and slipping in next to her.

He resolved in his mind that he would only stay with her until she was fast asleep, but alas by the time she had fallen into slumber, so had he.

* * *

By the time Remus had awoken, Hermione was still fast asleep. It was Remus's turn to awake with a warm body practically all over him. Hermione's leg was draped over his, her arm slung over his torso, her head buried into the crook of his neck, her soft curls tickling his shoulder and cheek.

Remus didn't want to wake the girl and possibly embarrass her in the process, so he stayed perfectly still. Her smell drifted into his heightened senses, the soft smell of cinnamon and vanilla. Her skin was soft and silky from what he could tell. And all of this was entirely inappropriate of him; he was mentally berating himself for placing both her and himself in this situation.

His thoughts were far from impure, but they still weren't innocent.

It had been far too long since he had had a warm body snuggled close to him. True, he had been with Tonks for quite some time, but that didn't mean near the end of the relationship that they had been cuddly by any means.

Finally deciding his best course of action would be to gently attempt to move Hermione over to her side of the bed without waking her. He shifted his weight under her, maneuvering his arms so that they were gripping her shoulders from either side. He took a deep breath and lifted her, sliding his body out from underneath her in the process. She made a small huff but other then that he seemed to have gotten away successfully.

"You smelt good, and were comfortable." She grumbled, which made him stop in his steps. Heart caught in his throat. When he peered over at her, he noticed her eyes were still shut and she was now cuddling with the pillow. Maybe cuddling was just a sleeping habit of hers.

"Yes, well, I think I will have some breakfast then we should start working on our predicament." Remus replied, avoiding her comments, but secretly pleased.

Hermione grumbled a bit before stretching, tweaking one eye open she passed him a glance before quickly rolling over and up out of bed. Following him behind the tapestry and into 'the room' she dubbed it again. She sat at the center table, the little boxes mocking her.

Remus was sitting in front of them as well, a bowl of cereal in his hands.

"Do you always work while you eat?" she asked groggily, as she pulled the list of abilities over to her again, a list she had practically memorized. Telepathy, Invisibility, Increased Strength, Teleportation, Increased Intellect, Fighting Prowess, Power over Nature, Sense and Sensibility, Flight, Increased Speed, Immunity to Poisons, Increased Healing, Increased Senses, Increased Stamina, Skill with Weapons, and a few other choices.

"I just want to get this done and over with." Remus stated logically, looking over the list with Hermione. "I don't need half of those." He commented, a bit detached.

"We'll," Hermione thought, a bit put-off by his attitude "That's a place to start, how about we go through and mark off what we won't need." Hermione saw his slight nod, and with a nod of her own she set to work.

"I don't think we will need increased intellect, we are both rather smart." She started, and Remus agreed. "I also don't think we will really need power over nature, considering that that is extremely broad and we have no idea what it could entitle or not entitle." Again Remus nodded in agreement. Hermione started taking the little wooden boxes and placing them in a reject pile.

"Can we still apparate and dissaparate?" Hermione asked seriously.

"I think we can once in the game, but I'm not sure, didn't she give you some rules?" Remus asked very seriously. Hermione frowned and then stood quickly; she focused her mind on the bed in the next room and quickly turned to the left. When she opened her eyes she was laying on the bed.

"We can apparate!" She yelled, making her way back to the store room. "I guess we couldn't before because we were in the other cell, that or we kept trying to apparate out of it instead of within it." She mulled, taking her seat again and placing the teleportation box into the reject pile.

"Do we really need sense and sensibility?" Remus asked, slightly confused.

"I doubt it, I mean both of us have plenty of sense and sensibility, or at least I would hope." Hermione rationalized again. Then she got frustrated, "This feels pointless, if only we knew what these challenges would be like, then we could make educated guesses, I feel like we are just guessing in the dark." She huffed.

"The dark is all were going to get." Remus replied honestly "Why don't we pick traits that are completely different from each other, that way we have a variety. I don't need increased senses, strength, healing, stamina or speed. I have most of that thanks to my condition." He mentioned sullenly.

"Right," she agreed, "Maybe I should just open fighting prowess and skill with weapons, considering I'm not that strong."

"You could just take increased strength, then possibly not have to worry so much over fighting prowess, I say skill with weapons would be good to have, you possibly would need the strength to hold the weapons." Remus reasoned. He had seen her on the battlefield, she was quick with a wand, and she had grace, he hardly doubted she would need the fighting prowess, either way he was determined to teach her some fighting techniques before they stepped foot into the arena.

"I think Invisibility would a good trait for you." She mused. Then she had a plan "We should take an offensive and defensive quality, maybe instead of strength I should take Immunity to poisons." Hermione mused. It was such a hard choice to make. Hermione was making her way down the list when she noticed a small box sitting to the side, she pulled it to her and looked it over.

"Was this here before?" she asked curious, then a small note appeared next to it "Guess not." She mulled. When she opened the letter she was shocked, she couldn't read it aloud, Remus had to take it from her and read it for himself.

"You will take this one and I also think you should take increased strength. I'll take invisibility and skill with weapons." Remus took the four small boxes and walked out of the room, expecting Hermione to follow.

Hermione followed dutily, seating herself across from Remus. "Should we open them now or later?" she asked, not sure of the next course of action.

"I think now would be best." Remus agreed, before taking one of his boxes and opening it, setting it on the table.

* * *

_A/N: Ooooo, I know I hate cliffies to! But I couldn't help it! I promise I will wrap up the introduction and get to the challenges in the next few chapters. I have a fun little scene of Remus training Hermione in fighting skills in my mind._

_Again, this chapter was unbeta'd, so until I get a beta be nice lol. _

_Also, if you are enjoying this story, you should also check into Sharrahenley's story Through The Looking Glass. It's really well written and worth the read. And give her reviews and love people! She deserves it for all the hard work she puts into it. _

_Lastly, I'm going to plug this really cool and new Harry Potter RPG site that I help run. It's called Hogwarts Returns, the link is: ( morgansgurl07. proboards102. com/ index. cgi) Obviously without the spaces. If you like RolePlay, then you may like our site, and we let you choose your house instead of forcing you into one. _

_Now onto the lovely reviewers, because I wouldn't have the motivation to write without them:_

_OpalTears: I am glad that you are loving the story so much and think that it is so original. That review really made my day. _

_HRInuyashaFan16: I think I have finally decided on keeping this an original story instead of a choose your own fate. I just don't have the time to write out that many chapters with me starting at UC Davis soon. And I loooove Doctor Who, what eppie were you referring to?_

_Emberlyn Silvermoon: I have to say I love your power of suggestion. Nothing says update faster then subliminal messaging lol._

_SG1Bauer: Wow :Blushes: Thankyou so much for your kind words. I really try to make my work quality as far as emotions go. I want the reader to kinda feel what the characters are going through, mostly because that is the type of work I enjoy to read. I'm glad you find this story so enticing and fulfilling. _

_MoonNightLover: Maybe it is a twisted wizards revenge plot :Rubs hands together evily: glad you are enjoying the story thus far though, and that you liked my little twist. _

_MarauderMooney: Yeah, I always saw Tonks as the desperate to keep Remus type. But I have to admit that if I were in her position I would have pulled what she did to try and keep him to lol. I picked up my version of werewolf myth's from a few other authors, I can't list them all because I kinda forgot who they were, I also threw in some Buffy The Vampire Slayer Vampire and Werewolf mytho's as well. I think there needs to be that level of intimacy. You may be surprised how it comes about between the two though, so beware, The Game is a rather tricky place to survive. _

_Sharrahenley: I love you, you know that. That has to have been the best review I have received thus far. I could practically taste your excitement haha. _

_Monnbeam: Yeah that was a really big jump ahead. To be honest my muse hasn't gotten that far yet, I know the concept of who is behind this, but exactly who I can't be sure. It will develop as the plot develops though I'm sure. _

_Jacobsbooo: I think you should take a look into Sharra's stories, she is a wonderful author. I'm glad you enjoyed mine though as well. _

_MistressKade: Yeah, thanks for the offer, but I have that rule because only 18 and over are supposed to be reading MA or NC-17 content. And though I won't be posting those explicit scenes on FF dot Net. I will still write them and need them beta'd for posting else where. And I really don't want to test the law by willingly let a minor read that kind of material. _

_MrsSparrow11: Thanks, I try really hard to keep the mood. In fact, while I write I listen to a song that helps keep me in the mood so that it will reflect in my writing. Yeah, I put way to much effort into it _

_DracoMalfoyEqualsLove: Oh, it is kinda sick, that is a wonderful complement to me. I want this story to be that way. Trust me the challenges will be even sicker, I have only just begun with my sickness. Heehee. And you being honest and saying you had no idea where it was going in the beginning means I did my job well. Keep reviewing. _

(\/)  
(O.o) /\  
_Copy the bunny to your presentation to help him achieve world domination,  
and come join the dark side. (We have cookies.) _

_**AND REMEMBER TO REVIEW!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_Posted: June-8-2008_

_Disclaimer: I own not the world of Harry Potter, If I did Remus would be in bed with me. Shame he isn't really._

* * *

**Mind Games: Fight It**

By: Morgansgurl

"You need to be watching me!" Remus nearly yelled, as Hermione was sprawled out on the ground, his body above her, her chest heaving and eyes wide. They had spent nearly three months doing the same thing over and over again, they would get up and eat and then train. He had her running around the room non stop, doing exercises like crazy, and also training her how to fight.

It was the first night of the full moon that she remembered clearly in these moments, the moments, when he was standing above her and triumphant, but clearly worried about her safety and skill when they were to enter the arena.

_Flashback_

"_Hermione, we really need to discuss this." Remus urged, as she sat on the couch staring placently at the fire in front of her. "It's less then a week away." He stated. _

"_I realize that Remus," she sighed "But what is there to discuss." Her voice was dejected and defeated. _

"_There is plenty to discuss!" his voice restrained and tight. _

"_How do you propose that we solve this problem then? We have two options the way I see it Remus." Her eyes raised to meet his defiantly. "We step into the fire early, or you kill me during the full moon. With the first option you may just kill me anyway." She ended, turning to glance back into the fire. _

_Remus was at her side in a moment, she hadn't even noticed he had moved. She assumed it was a trait of either his new abilities or lycanthrope. His hand went to her cheek and he gently turned her to look him in the eyes. He was crouching at her side. _

"_Hermione," he whispered "If I can prevent it, I would never hurt you." His eyes had an unreadable emotion. "Now please, try and work with me." _

"_What is there to work with?" she asked, the words coming out choked up. She was only trying to be realistic, where would they put him in his werewolf form in this room to keep him away from her. _

"_I don't know," Remus sighed "But we have to try, maybe we could chain me to some of the weapons in the room, or lock me in the wardrobe closet, something." He urged. His mind going over every possibility, she looked so set in her future that his heart was breaking. _

"_I wont let you fall to harm." He promised, but even to himself it sounded empty. He couldn't control his animalistic urges when in his changed state. He could feel the tears begin to form in his eyes from frustration and sadness. There had been many times he had wished he had never been bit, but this was one of the stronger regrets he had had about his fate in such a long time. _

_End Flashback_

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Can you conjure a cage?" Remus asked hopeful, sitting in the far corner of the room, as far away from her temptation as possible. Her blood was singing to him and it was driving him mad and it was only a day before his transformation. He couldn't keep the wolf at bay forever. _

"_I-I can try." She said, closing her eyes and focusing on a corner of the room that was empty. Sparks of unseen electricity started to form in the room around her body, a unfeelable breeze was slightly brushing her hair around. She was so focused with her palms at her sides facing up slightly. When she opened her eyes again, she could see a small wrought iron cage. She smiled feebly. "I'm not sure how it will hold up." She admitted, watching as Remus nearly crawled over to the cage and got in, shutting the door on himself. _

"_It's better then nothing." He croaked out. She had to agree. _

_They had been testing there abilities over the past few days. Remus was a beautiful and deadly creature when he wielded a weapon such a sword. His movements when he got into those moods made him the hunter, he was graceful and you could see his muscles and body full of power. It was a subtlety; an enemy could easily underestimate him. She wasn't sure if he had always been like this, or if it was his acquired gift of skill with weapons. _

_Invisibility hadn't been exactly what they expected, but it was good enough. He had the ability of stealth. He could run across the room and you couldn't hear a step. It was actually rather disconcerting. It also gave him a huge advantage of sneaking up on her, or an enemy. He also had a way of blending into shadows that she hadn't realized._

"_Like a were-vampire." He laughed when he realized how quiet he could now be, how deadly. _

"_I'm confused," she turned to look at him._

"_Werewolves don't get this kind of stealth, this kind of advantage," he started, staring at her intently "we can be quiet, and stealthy, don't get us wrong. But we are hardly able to be silent killers. That's the Vampires advantage. You don't realize how powerful this quality is when placed on someone affected with my kind of condition." He finished, his eyes very serious and boring into her. "It's almost to much power." He admitted slowly, sinking into the shadows and ending up behind her without her even having noticed he had moved from the shadows. _

_She focused on the cage before her, the realization of his words fully hitting her. If he got out…..She didn't want to think about that as sweat beads started to form on his brow and his breathing became ragged._

_She was hoping her cage held up against his true from. His inhuman form. She thought about how she was able to conjure such a meager amount of safety in the first place. Mind over Matter. That was her chosen gift. Or more the gift Remus had insisted she take, along with increased strength. Remus had thought that mind over matter would mean she could control things with her mind, which was true to and extent. After further exploration, they found it to mean that if she thought about something hard enough, it would happen, almost like wandless magic, except it took much more effort on her part and it wasn't always successful. _

_Now she was hoping she was successful as she heard an ear piercing scream come from the direction of Remus. She let her body drop behind the couch so as not to have to see him. She could hear his whimpers and agonizing screams, which was enough for her. Then she could swear she could hear his bones break, his skin stretch. It was sickening to her ears, and she tried to block out the noise. _

_Mind over matter, mind over matter, mind over matter…._

_She repeated in her head as she wished for silence, but it never came. She was forced to inadvertently experience his pain along with him. She didn't want to forget about him in these moments, but she could hardly bear it. Her respect for the man grew as she realized he went through this every month during the full moon. He actually had to endure it, she was simply listening to it. _

_She heard a feral growl emit from where the screams had once been, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She could hear his wolf form raging against the bars of the cage, and she could swear that her heart had stopped beating. Or it could be her breathing, but she couldn't be sure._

_She sat like that the entire night, jumping out of her skin, forgetting to breathe, cringing in fear. Her heart stopping its beats yet her blood rushing to fast past her ears. She hadn't slept a bit, and when she finally heard his coarse voice she had to suppress a scream of her own. _

"_Mione'" she heard a voice weakly say, and her intense air of fear lifted into worry. _

"_Remus!" she whispered in shock, appearing to his eyes form behind the couch. She knew she looked like hell and she could see in his eyes that he knew. She looked down at her body and then at him and at the cage. "I'm alive!" she sounded astonished. Somewhere through the night she had convinced herself that she wouldn't be surviving through the full moon. _

"_Mmmm." Was his weak response, but she could see a faint smile play on his lips. She broke out of her shock and rushed to the cage, willing the door to open, and watching in fascination as it didn't take much effort on her part. _

"_Let's get you out of here." She urged gently, helping him out of the cage and letting him place his full weight on her. She could take it; she did have an increased strength now after all. He seemed to know that as she walked him over to the bed and gently helped him lay down. _

"_You look like hell." He whispered silently, his eyes already beginning to close. _

"_I could say the same for you." Hermione shot back, concern lacing her pretty face as she let the tips of her fingers brush across his cheek in a caring manor. He didn't protest. She wasn't even sure if he was awake to feel it seeing as his eyes were closed. He looked weary and weak, and she could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. "You kept your promise." She whispered, before laying down next to his form, watching him for several long minutes before drifting off as well, her hand resting on his forearm. _

_End Flashback_

"Dammit Hermione!" he yelled again, frustrated. Running a hand through his thick head of sandy brown hair, making it stick up in all directions.

"Let's try again." She urged softly. Pushing herself to her feet, standing inches in front of him. She could hear his audible sigh and reluctance, they had been at this all day, or at least that's what it felt like. She took his face as a submittal and got into a fighting stance, closing her eyes for a brief moment to realize he was gone from her vision.

She turned about herself slowly. He was trying to make her better at tracking an enemy; he wanted to hone her in to being aware of all her surroundings at all times. She thought she was at an unfair advantage considering that he had all these extra abilities over her already, but she didn't gripe. In the challenges, whatever they were, she doubted their enemies would be disadvantaged. In fact she had the keen idea that they would be the ones at a disadvantage. What was it the woman had said; there betting on how long it takes you to die.

She thought she heard a wisp of air move to her left and quickly turned to match, only to find nothing there. Then she remembered to quickly turn to face the opposite direction, only to dodge a blur that would have impacted her. She was getting better at this detection thing, that or he was becoming more predictable.

He was crouched on the ground, looking every bit the predator as he eyed her. She knew she had made it past the first stage, now she actually had to fend him off. She was hoping she could match his skills with the moves he had been teaching her. She was tense, every muscle at her command. She had found that this increased strength thing really did help, considering she probably wouldn't have been able to fight him without it.

She was deceptively strong. Something that would work to her advantage in battle he said. She thought she saw a leg muscle twitch and bolted to the right as he tried to pounce her. She gripped his arm and using his own momentum propelled him into the wall. She heard him growl deep in his throat as he turned around and attacked her.

She found herself blocking his blows good enough, occasionally he would get a hit in and she would attempt to not cringe at the wave of pain. They had already agreed that going soft would prepare her for nothing, so when they did these little training episodes, he went all out short of actually killing her or breaking a bone.

He dropped and swiped a leg out, she tried to jump over his limb but her foot caught on the top of his calf, causing her to jet sideways and land on her arm and hip. She hissed out a wave of pain, but didn't have much time to react. He was on top of her in an instant, his arms locking her wrists in a bruising grip above her head. His hips resting incredibly close to hers, but not on. She felt a heat wave wash over her body that was foreign to her. She could smell his breath.

He was about to declare game over, a triumphant smile on his face when she surprised him. She hooked her legs over his knees, forcing their hips to touch, she could have sworn she heard him gasp lightly, but kept focused. She tensed all her muscles, and in a fluid movement, shifted all her strength to one side and flipped them over. She was resting on top of him, her thighs pressed into his hip bones.

She traced a finger along his throat in a slit-throat gesture, and had a chasire cat grin. "Game over." She stated in a whisper, her eyes still locked on his. She could see his usually honey colored eyes turn into a deep gold and wondered why that was. She wasn't sure if he was upset at her, or if something else was wrong.

"Very good." He stated his voice unusually tight. She stared at him funnily for a few seconds. It almost looked like he was trying to gain control over something. "Do you usually stay seated on your victims when you have decapitated them?" he asked wearily.

She immediately stood, offering a hand to help him up. Which he gladly accepted.

"Looks like you past your first test." He looked at her with pride, before he ruined it. "Finally."

"Hey!" she shot back, a glare on her face. She knew he was being playful. "Not everyone can be a gifted lycanthrope now can they, give credit where credit is due." She bit out, a laugh hidden in her words.

She knew her words had hit a sore spot the second she had said them, she could tell when his face closed off, when his eyes lost their light in the face of his reality. He turned from her and went to sit on the couch his eyes wandering but focusing on nothing. He hated to be reminded of his true nature, of his underlying danger to society.

"Don't do that." Hermione breathed as she went to sit next to him.

"It's not a gift, it's a curse." He hissed out, sounding disgusted with himself.

"Depends on your point of view." Hermione replied in a whisper, taking one of his hands in both of hers, letting a finger draw patters on his scarred skin. Her eyes boring into his face until he finally looked her in the eye.

"Everyone's point of view." He forced out, she could nearly see the lump forming in his throat. "I'm less then Human." He admitted, a unidentifiable pain in his eyes and voice.

"More then Human." She countered. He gave her an odd look. "It's how you look at it, glass half empty or half full." She explained trying to make him understand. "It should be seen as a gift not a hindrance. Same with all mixed bloods, your all more then human; that makes us humans seem rather dull in perspective." She admitted.

The minuets passed by with intense silence, he was simply looking at her with searching eyes. As if he was trying to find the lie in her words, as if he was looking for her true thoughts on his nature. Finally his posture relaxed and he looked away, a slight smile on his face.

"You are an amazing woman." He breathed out, clearly he had seen the truth of her words.

"You don't give yourself enough credit, had you been someone like Fenrir," his body visibly tensed at the name. "You wouldn't have found such acceptance." She explained.

"Doesn't change the fact that you are amazing," he replied again, he glanced down at their entwined hands. Realizing it had been such a long time since he had been so relaxed with someone, especially a someone of the opposite sex.

"Well," she started cockily, trying to get the good mood back "Nothing short of amazing is expected with my brains." She challenged.

"Matter of perspective." He shot back again, using her own words against her.

"Your insufferable sometimes," she jibbed, and they both laughed. The sound filling the small space. That was how the rest of their night went, as they sat together on the couch, telling stories and laughing, relishing in each other.

* * *

_A/N: I hoped you liked the update. To be honest, there may be one more chapter before we get into the challenges. Or I may just throw them in it in the next chapter. I'm not sure, and don't you love the sexual tension slowly building between them? . I do. _

_I have to say, I hate when fic's write them as suddenly in love, I think it needs to build and fester and drive the reader crazy. Besides' it's the fics that dirve us crazy that leaving wanting more. _

_I'm also working on setting up a livejournal so I can post sneak peaks, banners and updates along with general stuff about my stories. When I get it done and spiffied up, I'll post the link. _

_Also, if you are enjoying this story, you should also check into Sharrahenley's story Through The Looking Glass. It's really well written and worth the read. And give her reviews and love people! She deserves it for all the hard work she puts into it. _

_Lastly, I'm going to plug this really cool and new Harry Potter RPG site that I help run. It's called Hogwarts Returns, the link is: ( morgansgurl07. proboards102. com/ index. cgi) Obviously without the spaces. If you like RolePlay, then you may like our site, and we let you choose your house instead of forcing you into one. _

_And for some reason my current song addiction/playlist to this fic is as follows (I warn you it is odd and makes no sense really):_

_Skin - Alexz Johnson_

_Sugarcube - Porcelain and the Tramps_

_Youre A Wolf - Sea Wolf_

_Poster Girl- Backstreet Boys_

_Anthem - Zebrahead_

_I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry_

_Adrienne - The Calling_

_Poor Ginger! - Danny Elfman_

_Who Will Save Your Soul – Jewel_

_One Girl Revolution – Saving Jane_

_**Now to the Reviewers** (I don't know how I'm going to keep doing this when I get up to like 30 a chapter lol): _

_Sharrahenley: Payback for your cliffie, you bet that chapter 4 was a payback for your cliffie. I hope this chapter appeased you a bit more though lol. _

_Moonbeam: Look forward no more, chapter five is here. But then again you already knew that if you are reading this lol. _

_MoonNightLover: Likewise, I am more then pleased to see another review _

_The Whinging Pom: First off, I love your penname. I have no idea why. And secondly, I'm glad that you think this idea is a wonderful idea always makes my heart happy to see that someone supports my work. Thanks for the review. _

_Emberlyn Silvermoon: Someone's bossy lol. No it's all good, sometimes a author needs that swift kick in the arse to update. You guys have no idea how much a angry review about not updating can motivate us. Don't worry, I should have the next chapter up soon, maybe not soon enough for you, but soon. _

_MarauderMooney: Oh, I plan on making you guys squirm and coming at me with flaming pitchforks and raving bunnies on crack before I get to the intimacy parts. But no worries, when I do they will be steamy. I like letting it slowly build and fester until it drives you mad. What can I say, I like to take after Joss in some respect. I love when I keep people on the edge of their seat. Would you believe me if I said when I write I'm on the edge of my seat because even I'm not sure what is going to happen next, I mean I have a general plot line idea for a chapter, I even have the first challenge plotted out, but I don't plan everything, I mostly type and let come out what my. I find my ideas often revamping themselves into something better. And I'm glad you enjoyed Sharrahenley's story, I beta it for her lol. I hope you reviewed for her, I really think her stories deserve them. Wow this has to be like the longest response ever. Be proud._

_Decimare: A combo of books in one!? Really, which books come to your mind out of curiosity? I would love to know so I could possibly go pick them up sometime and read them. A gripping Adventure? I love your description, it made my heart flutter to think people see this fic that highly. I'm just waiting for the flames to ensue. Don't you notice how the fics your refuse to click on and read for the longest time turn out to be the best ones you could have ever read? I find myself thinking that all the time. Heehee you're not the only one wondering what will happen next or how this will turn out. Trust me. _

_Sirius 4-ever and a day: You have one of the longest pennames ever, I love it! Lol. I'm glad you loved it, and think it's great. I also love Remus and Hermione, mostly Remus though, I like to envision myself as Hermione naturally lmao. Helps me write. Lately though I have been on a Edward/Bella trip, even started a fic called 'All In Time' for them. _

_Coolkid4869: I totally understand what you mean, I often find myself up until the wee hours of morning, sometimes up all night reading a fic I just cant walk away from until I find out what happens next. I hope this update was fast enough for you _

_Draco Malfoy Equals Love: Heehee, I think you were one of the only ones to actually comment on the last chapter that I hadn't mentioned what the power was. I hope Mind over Matter was good enough for you, and I haven't even touched the iceberg on that power yet, I have so much planned. And your excitement is infectious. _

(\/)  
(O.o) /\  
_Copy the bunny to your presentation to help him achieve world domination,  
and come join the dark side. (We have cookies.) _

_**AND REMEMBER TO REVIEW!**_


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